Computer Crime, Race To Challenge Police In '90s

Looking ahead to the 1990s, the two top cops on the Peninsula agree that drugs will continue to be the No. 1 law enforcement problem.

But other major challenges also lie ahead, among those being potential increases in white collar, computer-aided crime and in race-related incidents, said Newport News Police Chief Jay A. Carey Jr.

Both Carey and his counterpart in Hampton, Pat G. Minetti, say their departments will have to use a combination of old and new methods to combat the challenges of the '90s.

That will mean an increase in "community oriented policing," in which the delivery of police services is decentralized and officers seek greater interaction with the citizenry they are supposed to serve.

It will also mean greater use of high technology, ranging from more widespread use of "DNA fingerprinting" to portable computers.

At the top of the agenda for both departments, however, will be an old enemy, illegal drugs. It's a problem that Minetti says he didn't know existed when he joined the Hampton Police Department in 1955.

But since then drugs have become "the biggest problem we've had since World War II," Minetti said, linked to 68 percent of all violent crimes.

"I think it is the most significant national security problem we have as a country," adds Carey.

Both men agree that the problem will not be solved by law enforcement agencies alone. "The easiest way to lose the war on drugs is to depend on police departments to solve it by themselves," said Minetti, who has led the Hampton department since 1982. "No one segment of society caused the problem and no one segment is going to solve it.

"If the problem with drugs or any other problem that addresses the quality of life in this country is going to be solved, it's going to be solved at the local level," Minetti said.

Both Minetti and Carey talk of fighting the drug problem through addressing the demand as well as the supply.

"We've got to dry up the market," said Minetti, "and it's going to be done through public awareness, through education and counseling, through rehabilitation - to address the demand side; and then that's going to be joined by the supply side through the interdiction and law enforcement."

Carey noted that "traditionally, law enforcement would look at drugs and say, "That's a law enforcement problem so we'll make all these arrests and dump them in the criminal justice system and that'll take care of the problem.' Well that's not the way it is."

Drug use is a multi-faceted problem, Carey said, that has to be treated as one. "I see it as a social problem, I see it as an economic problem, I see it as an education and values problem, I see it as a health problem and I also see it as a law enforcement problem."

Both chiefs reject the idea, which has lately been advocated by a former secretary of state and a sitting federal judge, that the way to eliminate the drug problem is through legalization.

Legalization would be "absolutely devastating," said Minetti. "There's a case where the cure would be worse than the disease."

Said Carey, "I have a moral aversion to the government stepping in and selling cocaine and marijuana. I think we as a society have failed when we get to that point."

Carey noted that he expects his department will be confronted with other major problems in the decade, in addition to drugs.

White collar crime is an area he expects to have to devote more resources. The growth of computer use has only made companies more vulnerable to computer-related fraud, he said.

The department will have to improve it's ability to fight white collar crime, Carey said.

"You can steal so much more money," through computer fraud, he noted. "A guy can go out and rob a 7-Eleven of 20 or 30 bucks, or through computer fraud, you can literally steal millions of dollars."

Carey admits that the department is still learning how to combat this new type of crime. But he adds that the white collar crime unit is already being beefed up.

Another area of concern, Carey noted, is the increase in race-related crime.

"The vibrations I get from my colleagues around the country are that there's an increase in racism," he said.

While there has not been any recent race-related incidents in Newport News, Carey cited the Labor Day disturbances at Virginia Beach as an example of the increase in racial tension around the country. And in recent weeks there has been bombings in Alabama and Atlanta that were believed to be racially motivated.

"We in this business need to understand what is the problem and get to the heart of the matter," Carey said.

"I fear that in the future, and I think we as a society need to be more sensitive to one another's needs."

On issues involving organization and structure of their departments, the two chiefs appear to be in accord. This is particularly so on the need for more widespread use of the "community policing" concept, in which officers attempt to interact more closely with the communities they serve.

Hampton currently has four field service offices and Newport News has two "store-front" offices where the new concepts are put into practice.

"That's what's forthcoming, that's what's here," said Minetti. "The evolution has already begun to take place."

Newport News served as a proving ground for the new methods earlier in the '80s, notes Carey.

In the '90s he added, the department is planning to try decentralizing its operations, first in the northern half of the city.

Under the plan, which is now being formulated, the northern patrol sector would be dvidided into three smaller units, each supervised by a single lieutenant.

Each of the areas would have its own citizens advisory committee, Carey said, which would communicate the specific needs of the community directly to the department.